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SERIES 16: CONVERSATIONS WITH GURUJI: “STILLING THE FLOW OF THOUGHT” – Part 1
“Vāsanā Kśayam v. Prati Pakśa Bhāvanā
“You cannot understand the concepts of ‘Vāsanā Kśayam’ (stilling the flow of one’s thoughts) and ‘Prati Pakśa Bhāvanā’ (counteracting one thought with another) in isolation. They need to follow one another in a certain sequence. Simply put, Prati Pakśa Bhāvanā means, ‘Whatever thought comes, oppose it.’ But to understand this, you also need to understand what came before the Prati Pakśa Bhāvanā, what is going to come after it, and what Vāsanā Kśayam is for in the first place. These ideas have to be understood in their totality.
“Let’s begin with Vāsanā Kśayam. You don’t achieve this stilling of the mind’s flow by merely replacing ‘bad’ thoughts with ‘good’ thoughts, because ‘Vāsanā’ refers to thoughts of all kinds – good, bad and indifferent. The moment you begin classifying things – as good or bad or whatever – the very act of naming them itself creates an attachment.
“The world is full of such classifications and guidelines – hundreds of them, each naming and defining what is good and what is bad, how one should live and what proper conduct is. There are Muslim guidelines, American guidelines, Indian, Chinese … take your pick! There are entire books of guidelines! Choose your religion; they all talk about it.
“Of course, we don’t choose the guidelines we grow up with. We’re born into them; the moment we come into this World the guidelines and labels are there waiting for us. Brāhmins have their guidelines; Kśatriyas have theirs; each group has its own set. Even dogs have guidelines; even plants! The guideline for plants might be, ‘Thou shalt not move from the place where you are. You must take nourishment from the soil in which you were born. If you cannot get that nourishment, then you must die.’
“A plant can’t go wandering off in search of water – it shoots out roots as best it can, and if it does not find water it dies. That’s how Nature is – compassionate to some, and not compassionate to others; or at least that’s how it seems from our perspective. Because compassion is a human emotion; it does not govern Nature. Nature is beyond emotion. 
“That is why we say Dévī is both ‘Roudri’ (the Angry One) and ‘Praśānti Svarūpiṇi’ (the Embodiment of Supreme Peace):
|| Ati Sowmyāti Roudrāyai Nathāstasyai Namo Namaḥ ||
“‘She is the most pleasing among beautiful things, and the most ferocious among terrible things.'”
Check in tomorrow for Part 2.
Excerpted from a discourse given by Guruji Śrī Amṛtānanda Nātha on April 4, 2006, at Devipuram.
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